Information processing apparatus and non-transitory computer readable medium

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus includes a processor configured to, when a second message specifying a portion of an original image included in a first message and having a link information associating the second message to the first message is received, display the portion of the original image specified in the second message with the original image based on the link information that identifies the first image being associated with the second message.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/211,251, filed on Dec. 16, 2018, which claims priority under 35 USC119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-030997 filed Feb. 23,2018.

BACKGROUND (i) Technical Field

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus anda non-transitory computer readable medium.

(ii) Related Art

Messages are displayed in a chat system, and one message including animage may be associated with another message. A user may enter acharacter string of another message after verifying contents of anoriginal image of the image included in the message. In that case, theuser may have difficulty if the original image is not displayed.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided aninformation processing apparatus. The information processing apparatusincludes a display that displays a message, and an association unit thatassociates a first message including an image with a second message thatincludes a character string that is entered in a state that an originalimage of the image is displayed via the image on the display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described indetail based on the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a whole configuration of a chat system of anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of an operation terminal ofthe exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating the operation terminalof the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating a server apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process thatgenerates link information by displaying the original image of an imageif the image is contained in one message;

FIG. 6-1A through FIG. 6-1C illustrate a specific process that generatesthe link information by displaying the original image of the image ifthe image is contained in one message;

FIG. 6-2A and FIG. 6-2B illustrate a specific process that generates thelink information by displaying the original image of the image if theimage is contained in the one message;

FIG. 6-3A and FIG. 6-3B illustrate a specific process that generates thelink information by displaying the original image of the image if theimage is contained in the one message;

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B illustrate a first display example of a replymessage;

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B illustrate a second display example of the replymessage;

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B illustrate a third display example of the replymessage;

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B illustrate a fourth display example of the replymessage; and

FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B illustrate a fifth display example of the replymessage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described in detailwith reference to the attached drawings.

The whole configuration of a chat system 1 of the exemplary embodimentof the present invention is described below. FIG. 1 illustrates thewhole configuration of the chat system 1 of the exemplary embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the chat system 1 includes a server apparatus 100and operation terminals 200A through 200C. The server apparatus 100 andthe operation terminals 200A through 200C are connected to a network300.

FIG. 1 illustrates the operation terminals 200A through 200C. If theoperation terminals 200A through 200C are not discriminated from eachother, they may be collectively referred to as an operation terminal200. In the example of FIG. 1, the three operation terminals 200 areillustrated, but the number of operation terminals is not limited tothree.

The server apparatus 100 is a computer that provides a chat system 1that allows multiple operation terminals 200 to exchange messages. Theserver apparatus 100 may be a personal computer (PC), a workstation, orthe like. Upon receiving a message from the operation terminal 200, theserver apparatus 100 stores the message. The server apparatus 100transmits the received message to the operation terminals 200participating in the chat system 1 (operation terminals 200A through200C).

The operation terminal 200 is an example of an information processingapparatus, and is a computer, such as a PC, or an information processingterminal. The operation terminal 200 displays a screen on which messagesexchanged in the chat system 1 are presented (hereinafter referred to asa chat screen) in a chronological order.

More specifically, the operation terminal 200 generates a message foroperation terminals 200 participating in the chat system 1 in responseto an operation of a user, and transmits the generated message to theserver apparatus 100. The operation terminal 200 additionally displayson the chat screen as a new message thereon the message transmitted tothe server apparatus 100. If the operation terminal 200 receives amessage from the server apparatus 100, the operation terminal 200additionally displays the received message on the chat screen thereof asa new message.

The network 300 is a communication system that is used for communicationbetween the server apparatus 100 and the operation terminal 200. Forexample, the operation terminal 200 is the Internet, a public telephonenetwork, and/or a local area network (LAN).

When the operation terminal 200 replies to one message in the chatsystem 1 thus constructed, the operation terminal 200 performs anassociation operation (link operation) to associate the one message withanother message responsive to the message. If an image is included inthe one message, a character string is received in a state that anoriginal image associated with the image is displayed. The operationterminal 200 performs the association operation to associate the onemessage with the other message including the input character sting.

If the image included in the one message is part of another image, theother image (namely, the whole image) is the original image. However, ifthe image included in the one message is the whole image, the imageincluded in the one message may match the original image.

A hardware configuration of the operation terminal 200 of the exemplaryembodiment is described below. FIG. 2 illustrates the hardwareconfiguration of the operation terminal 200 of the exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the operation terminal 200 includes a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 201 serving as an arithmetic unit, a memory 202,and a magnetic disk device 203. The CPU 201 executes a variety ofprograms including an operating system (OS), and applications. Thememory 202 serves as a memory area that stores the variety of programsand data that is used to execute the programs. The magnetic disk device203 serves as a memory area that stores the variety of programs, datathat is input to the programs, and data that is output from theprograms. The CPU 201 implements functionalities of the operationterminal 200 by loading the programs stored on the magnetic disk device203 onto the memory 202, and executing the programs.

The operation terminal 200 further includes a communication interface204 for communication with the outside, a display mechanism 205including a video memory and a display, and an input device 206including a keyboard, a mouse, and/or a touch panel. In accordance withthe exemplary embodiment, the display 205 is an example of a display.

The server apparatus 100 may be identical in hardware configuration tothe operation terminal 200 of FIG. 2.

The functional configuration of the operation terminal 200 of theexemplary embodiment is described below. FIG. 3 is a functional blockdiagram illustrating the operation terminal 200 of the exemplaryembodiment. The operation terminal 200 includes an operation receivingunit 211, a display controller 212, an association unit 213, and amessage transceiver unit 214.

The operation receiving unit 211 receives an operation performed on amouse or a touch panel by the user. For example, the operation receivingunit 211 receives an operation to enter a character string included in amessage to be transmitted, or an operation to transmit to the serverapparatus 100 a message including the character string and an image(image data).

The operation receiving unit 211 also receives an operation to displayan original image corresponding to the image via the image included inthe one message on a chat screen. When the original image is displayedwith the operation to display the original image performed, theoperation receiving unit 211 receives an operation to enter a characterstring in reply to the one message with the original image displayed, oran operation to transmit another message including the input characterstring to the server apparatus 100.

The display controller 212, serving as an association unit, outputs datato display on the display the messages, images, and the chat screen onthe display of the display mechanism 205. The display controller 212thus controls a displaying operation of the display. When the operationto display the original image corresponding to the image via the imageincluded in the one message on the chat screen is performed, the displaycontroller 212 causes the original image to be displayed on the display.

The association unit 213 also serving as the association unit performsthe association operation to associate the one message on the chatscreen with the other message. More specifically, when a reply istransmitted in response to the one message, the association unit 213generates information (hereinafter referred to as link information)indicating that the one message is associated with (linked with) theother message as a reply to the one message. In other words, the linkinformation indicates that the other message is the reply to themessage. If the one message includes an image on the chat screen, theassociation unit 213 performs an association operation that associatesthe one message with the other message including the character stringentered with the original image being displayed via the image.

The message transceiver unit 214 may transmit or receive a message to orfrom the server apparatus 100. When the message transceiver unit 214transmits a message (reply message) in reply to the one message on thechat screen, the message transceiver unit 214 attaches the linkinformation to the reply message, and then transmits to the serverapparatus 100 the reply message with the link information attachedthereto. if a message received from the server apparatus 100 is a replymessage responsive to the one message, the message transceiver unit 214receives the link information together with the received message.

Each functionality of the operation terminal 200 is implemented whensoftware and hardware resources operate in concert with each other. Morespecifically, when the operation terminal 200 is implemented using thehardware configuration of FIG. 2, the OS and application programs storedon the magnetic disk device 203 or the like are read onto the memory202, and executed by the CPU 201. This implements the functionalities ofthe operation receiving unit 211, the display controller 212, theassociation unit 213, the message transceiver unit 214, and the like.

The functional configuration of the server apparatus 100 of theexemplary embodiment is described below. FIG. 4 is a functional blockdiagram illustrating the server apparatus 100 of the exemplaryembodiment. The server apparatus 100 of the exemplary embodimentincludes a message delivery unit 111, a message memory 112, and a linkinformation memory 113.

Upon receiving a message from the operation terminal 200, the messagedelivery unit 111 stores the received message on the message memory 112.The message delivery unit 111 transmits the received message to theoperation terminals 200 that participate in the chat system 1. If themessage received from the operation terminal 200 has the linkinformation attached thereto, the message delivery unit 111 stores thelink information on the link information memory 113, and stores themessage on the message memory 112. Also, the message delivery unit 111transmits the message with the link information attached thereto to theoperation terminals 200 that participate in the chat system 1.

The message memory 112 stores the message received by the messagedelivery unit 111.

The link information memory 113 stores the link information received bythe message delivery unit 111. The link information stored on the linkinformation memory 113 may be used to classify or analyze the messagesexchanged in the chat system 1.

As with the case of the operation terminal 200, the CPU in the serverapparatus 100 reads an OS and application programs from a magnetic diskor the like onto a memory, and executes the OS and application programs.The server apparatus 100 thus implements the functionalities of themessage delivery unit 111 and the like. The message memory 112 and thelink information memory 113 are implemented by a storage device, such asa magnetic disk device.

If an image is included in one message on the chat screen, an originalimage of the image is displayed to generate the link information. FIG. 5is a flowchart illustrating an example of the process that generates thelink information by displaying the original image of the image when theimage is included in the one message.

The operation receiving unit 211 receives an operation to select theimage included in the one message on the chat screen (step S101). Thatoperation is performed to display the original image via the imageincluded in the one message. For example, the operation may includeclicking on the image included in the one message. The displaycontroller 212 displays the original image (step S102).

The display controller 212 determines whether the operation receivingunit 211 has received a reply responsive to the one message (step S103).For example, the display controller 212 displays a reply button on ascreen that displays the original image. The display controller 212 thendetermines whether an operation to select the reply button has beenreceived.

If the determination result in step S103 is not affirmative, thedetermination in step S103 is repeated. In other words, if thedetermination result in step S103 is not affirmative, the displaycontroller 212 displays the original image in an expanded size or areduced size in response to an operation performed by the user until thereply to the one message is received. If the original image is adocument of multiple pages, the display controller 212 turns to anddisplays the next page of the original image or turns to and displaysthe previous page of the original image in response to the operation ofthe user.

If the determination result in step S103 is affirmative, the displaycontroller 212 sets part or whole of the original image to bespecifiable on the screen where the original image is displayed. If theuser performs the operation to specify part or whole of the originalimage, an image to be included in another message that is in reply tothe one message is specified. In the state that the original image isdisplayed, the display controller 212 displays a region that receives acharacter string in reply to the one message (hereinafter referred to asa reply character string region) (step S104).

The association unit 213 determines whether the operation receiving unit211 has received the operation to transmit the other message in reply tothe one message (step S105). The other message includes the characterstring entered in the reply character string region and the imagespecified by the user (part or whole of the original image). The usermay specify as an image to be included in the other message an image notrelated to the original image.

If the determination result in step S105 is not affirmative (no), thedetermination in step S105 is repeated. In other words, if thedetermination result in step S105 is not affirmative, the operationreceiving unit 211 receives in response to the user's operation theoperation to specify part or whole of the original image or theoperation to enter the character string into the reply character stringregion until the operation to transmit the other message is received.

If the determination result in step S105 is affirmative, the associationunit 213 determines whether a different portion of the original image ofthe one message or an image different from the original image of the onemessage is specified as an image to be included in the other message(step S106). However, the other message may include the same portion ofthe original image of the message.

If the determination result in step S106 is affirmative, the associationunit 213 generates the link information by associating the one messagewith the other message including the specified image (step S107). Themessage transceiver unit 214 transmits the other message with the linkinformation attached thereto to the server apparatus 100 (step S108).The process thus ends.

If the determination result in step S106 is not affirmative, theassociation unit 213 generates the link information by associating themessage with the other message not including the image (step S109).Processing proceeds to step S108.

In step S108, the message transceiver unit 214 transmits to the serverapparatus 100 not only the data of the image specified as the image ofthe other message but also the data of the original image of the image.In addition, when the data of the original image is transmitted to theserver apparatus 100, the data of the original image is transmitted fromthe server apparatus 100 to each of the operation terminal 200. Theoperation terminal 200 may thus display the original image. If theoriginal image of the image included in the other message is the same asthe original image of the image in the one message, the data of theoriginal image is transmitted via the one message to each operationterminal 200. For this reason, the data of the original image is nottransmitted in the transmission of the other message, and information onthe image of the other message (for example, information indicating whatportion of the original image is to be displayed) may be transmitted. Insuch a case, the operation terminal 200 identifies the one message fromthe other message via the link information, and displays the imageincluded in the other message with the original image of the image inthe one message associated with the image in the other message.

In the specific process described below, the link information isgenerated by displaying the original image of the image when the imageis included in the one message on the chat screen. FIG. 6-1A throughFIG. 6-3B illustrate the specific process that generates the linkinformation with the original image of the image displayed when theimage is included in the one message.

An operator A may now operate the operation terminal 200A to transmit amessage including an image. To transmit the message, the operator Aperforms an operation to display an image 11 of FIG. 6-1A. Referring toFIG. 6-1B, the operator A specifies an image 12 that is part of theimage 11. Note that the image 12 is part of the image 11 which is theoriginal image of the image 12. The operator A enters a character stringin a region 13 that receives the entry of the character string.Referring to FIG. 6-1B, a character string “See this portion.” isentered.

When the operator A selects the image 11, a message 16 (see FIG. 6-1C)is transmitted to the server apparatus 100. The message 16 includes thechat screen “See this portion.” entered by the operator A and the image12 specified by the operator A. If the message 16 is displayed on thechat screen, the image 12 is also displayed. The message 16 transmittedto the server apparatus 100 includes not only the data of the image 12but also the data of the image 11 as the original image. The serverapparatus 100 transmits the received message 16 to operation terminals200 participating in the chat system 1 (an operation terminal 200B andan operation terminal 200C).

A chat screen 15 of FIG. 6-1C is an example of the chat screen displayedon the operation terminal 200B that has received the message 16 from theserver apparatus 100. Note that a similar chat screen is displayed onthe operation terminal 200A that has transmitted the message 16.

The chat screen 15 displays multiple messages. The multiple messages aredisplayed in a chronological order. For example, the latest message isdisplayed at the bottom of the screen, and then the messages subsequentto the latest message are displayed in a chronological order from bottomto top on the screen. In the example of FIG. 6-1C, the operationterminal 200A transmits a message 17 after transmitting the message 16,and the message 17 and the message 16 are displayed from the bottom inthat order.

An operator B may now reply to the message 16. When the operator Bselects the image 12 included in the message 16 on the chat screen 15, ascreen 18 is displayed indicating the image 11 as the original image ofthe image 12 as illustrated in FIG. 6-2A. The screen 18 displaysinformation about the sender (the operator A) of the message 16,transmission time, and the character string “See this portion.” in themessage 16. An image 19 indicating the frame indicative of the locationof the image 12 in the image 11 is displayed such that it is recognizedthat the message 16 as an original message includes the image 12.

When the operator B selects an expand button 20, the image 11 isdisplayed in an expanded scale. If the operator B selects a reducebutton 21, the image 11 is displayed in a reduced scale. When theoperator B selects a next page button 22 with the image 11 being adocument including multiple pages, the next page is displayed. When theoperator B selects a previous page button 23, the screen returns to theprevious page to display the previous page.

When the operator B selects a reply button 24, a reply character stringregion 25 is newly displayed as illustrated in FIG. 6-2B. Part or wholeof the image 11 may be specifiable on the screen 18. In the illustratedexample, the operator B specifies an image 26 that is part of the image11. The image 26 is different from the image 12 included in the message16 serving as the original message. When the operator B enters acharacter string in the reply character string region 25, the enteredcharacter string is displayed. As illustrated in FIG. 6-2B, a characterstring reading “We′d better modify this portion.” is entered.

When the operator B selects a transmit button 27, the association unit213 in the operation terminal 200B generates the link information. Theassociation unit 213 herein generates the link information byassociating the message 16 with a message 28 serving as a message inreply to the message 16 (see FIG. 6-3A). The message 28 includes thechat screen entered by the operator B “We′d better modify this portion.”and the image 26 specified by the operator B. The link informationindicates that the message 28 is the reply to the message 16.

The message 28 with the link information attached thereto is transmittedto the server apparatus 100. The message transceiver unit 214 transmitsnot only the data of the image 26 included in the message 28 but alsothe data of the image 11 as the original image. However, since the dataof the image 11 is transmitted to the operation terminal 200 via themessage 16, the data of the image 11 may not necessarily have to betransmitted via the message 28. Upon receiving the message 28 with thelink information attached thereto, the server apparatus 100 transmitsthe received message 28 to the operation terminals 200 participating inthe chat system 1 (the operation terminal 200A and the operationterminal 200C).

A chat screen 29 of FIG. 6-3A is an example of the chat screen displayedon the operation terminal 200A that has received the message 28 from theserver apparatus 100. The operation terminal 200B having transmitted themessage 28 also displays a chat screen similar to the chat screen 29.

The chat screen 29 displays the message 28 as a new massage subsequentto the message 17. The message 16 is associated with the message 28 bythe link information generated by the association unit 213 in theoperation terminal 200B. If the operator A selects the message 28, themessage 16 is displayed in a state indicating that the message 16 isassociated with the message 28. More specifically, if part of themessage 16 is not displayed on the chat screen 29 as illustrated in FIG.6-3A, the chat screen 29 is scrolled such that the whole message 16 isviewed. If the message 16 is displayed apart from the display region ofthe chat screen 29, the chat screen 29 may be scrolled such that themessage 16 is entirely viewed.

Referring to FIG. 6-3A, the message 28 includes the image 26 differentfrom the image 12 included in the original message 16. It iscontemplated that the operator B does not specify the image differentfrom the image 12. A message 30 of FIG. 6-3B includes the characterstring entered into the reply character string region by the operator Bbut does not include any image. The message 30 includes the chat screen“Noted.” The association unit 213 in the operation terminal 200Bgenerates the link information. Referring to FIG. 6-3B, the associationunit 213 generates the link information by associating the message 16with the message 30. The link information indicates that the message 30is a reply to the message 16.

In this way, if the one message includes the image, the operationterminal 200 displays the original image via the image and receives thechat screen with the original image displayed. The association unit 213thus generates the link information that associates the one message withthe other message including the character string entered with theoriginal image displayed.

A reply may be made to the other message that has been made in reply tothe one message. In such a case, the association unit 213 generates thelink information that associates the other message with the replymessage. The message transceiver unit 214 then transmits the messagewith the link information attached thereto to the server apparatus 100.In that case, the message transceiver unit 214 may transmit, as the linkinformation, the link information that associates the one message withthe other message in addition to the link information that associatesthe other message with the reply message.

Other display examples of a message associated with the one message aredescribed below. The message associated with the one message is a replymessage responsive to the one message, and includes the character stringthat has been entered with the original image displayed via the imageincluded in the one message. Note that an operation terminal 200 servingas a sender transmitting a message and an operation terminal 200 servingas a receiver receiving the message display chat screens similar to eachother.

When a reply is made in response to an original message, the replymessage includes a character string entered by an operator and an imagespecified by the operator. On the other hand, in a first displayexample, the reply message includes the contents of the original messagein addition to the character string entered by the operator, and theimage specified by the operator.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B illustrate a first display example of the replymessage. The operator A may now transmit a message 41 by operating theoperation terminal 200A. The original message 41 includes a characterstring 42 and an image 43. By operating the operation terminal 200B, theoperator B transmits a reply message 46 containing a character string 44and an image 45 including part of the original image of the image 43.Referring to FIG. 7A, the reply message 46 includes the character string42 of the original message 41 and the image 43.

The reply message 46 includes the character string 42 of the originalmessage 41 and the image 43. The contents of the original message 41 arerecognized by verifying the reply message 46 without verifying theoriginal message 41 on the chat screen.

If the operator A does not specify an image different from the image 43,a character string 47 of the reply message 46, the character string 42of the original message 41, and the image 43 are displayed asillustrated in FIG. 7B.

If the contents of the original message 41 is to be included in thereply message 46, the contents of the original message 41 (characterstring and image) are also transmitted when the reply message 46 istransmitted from the operation terminal 200 to the server apparatus 100.Upon receiving the reply message 46 from the server apparatus 100, theoperation terminal 200 displays the reply message 46 including thecontents of the original message 41. Note that the original message 41has been transmitted. For this reason, when the operation terminal 200having received the reply message 46 displays, the operation terminal200 identifies the original message 41 in accordance with the linkinformation, and displays the reply message 46 with the contents of theoriginal message 41 included therewithin.

The image 43 and the image 45 have the same original image. When thereply message 46 is transmitted from the operation terminal 200 to theserver apparatus 100, the data of the original image may be transmittedfor each of the image 43 and the image 45. Alternatively, the data ofthe original image may be transmitted as data common to the image 43 andthe image 45. The data of the original image has been transmitted usingthe original message 41 as described above. The data of the originalimage may not necessarily have to be transmitted when the reply message46 is transmitted. In such a case, the display controller 212 in theoperation terminal 200 having received the reply message 46 may identifythe original message 41 and the original image, based on the linkinformation attached to the reply message 46.

A second display example is described below. As in the first displayexample, the reply message includes the contents of the originalmessage. In the second display example, however, the display controller212 controls a display form of the image of the original message in thereply message in accordance with the positional relationship between theoriginal message and the reply message on the chat screen.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B illustrate a second display example of the replymessage. Referring to FIG. 8A, another message 48 is present between theoriginal message 41 and the reply message 46. Referring to FIG. 8B,multiple messages 49 are present between the original message 41 and thereply message 46. As the smaller number of messages is present betweenthe original message 41 and the reply message 46, there is a higherpossibility that the original message 41 is close to the reply message46 in location. The original message 41 is thus easier to recognize fromthe display location of the reply message 46.

As the smaller number of messages is present between the originalmessage 41 and the reply message 46 as illustrated in FIG. 8A and FIG.8B in accordance with the exemplary embodiment, control is performedsuch that the image 43 of the original message 41 in the reply message46 is displayed in a smaller size (or is not displayed). Control isperformed such that the image 43 in the reply message 46 is displayed ina smaller size (or is not displayed) when the number of messages presentbetween the original message 41 and the reply message 46 is smaller thana predetermined number than when the number of messages is equal to orlarger than the predetermined number. By displaying the image 43 in asmaller size, more messages are displayed on the chat screen.

In this way, the operation terminal 200 may control the display form ofthe image 43 of the original message 41 in the reply message 46 inaccordance with the number of messages present between the originalmessage 41 and the reply message 46.

Instead of using the number of messages present between the originalmessage 41 and the reply message 46, the operation terminal 200 maycontrol the display form of the image 43 of the original message 41 inthe reply message 46 in accordance with a distance between the originalmessage 41 and the reply message 46 on the chat screen. In that case,the operation terminal 200 performs control such that as the distancebetween the original message 41 and the reply message 46 is shorter, theimage 43 in the reply message 46 is displayed in a smaller size (or isnot displayed).

The operation terminal 200 may control the display form of the image 43of the original message 41 in the reply message 46 in accordance withwhether the original message 41 and the reply message 46 areaccommodated within the chat screen. For example, the image 43 in thereply message 46 is displayed in a smaller size (or is not displayed)when both the original message 41 and the reply message 46 areaccommodated within the chat screen than when one of the originalmessage 41 and the reply message 46 is outside the display region of thechat screen and thus is not displayed.

The chat screen of the exemplary embodiment is not limited to the formof FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B where the messages are displayed in rows. Even ifthe messages are displayed in columns, the display form of the image ofthe original message in the reply message is controlled in accordancewith the positional relationship between the original message and thereply message.

A third display example is described below. As in the first displayexample, the reply message includes the contents of the originalmessage. In the third display example, however, the display controller212 controls the display form of the image of the original message inthe reply message in accordance with the number of reply messagesassociated with the original message.

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B illustrate the third display example of the replymessage. Referring to FIG. 9A, the operator A may transmit the originalmessage 41. In response to the original message 41, operators B and Crespectively transmit a reply message 46A and a reply message 46B. Sincemultiple replies (two replies) are made in response to the originalmessage 41, the image 43 of the original message 41 is displayed bymultiple times. The operation terminal 200 performs control such thatthe image 43 of the original message 41 in the reply message 46 isdisplayed in a smaller size (or is not displayed) when the number ofreply messages associated with the original message 41 is above apredetermined number than when the number of reply messages is equal toor below the predetermined number.

In the illustrated example, the predetermined number is “1”. Inaddition, when the operator B transmits the reply message 46A, thenumber of messages associated with the original message 41 is “1”. Inthat case, the number of messages does not exceed the predeterminednumber “1”. However, if the operator C transmits the reply message 46B,the number of messages associated with the original message 41 is “2”,and thus exceeds the predetermined number “1”. The operation terminal200 performs control such that the image 43 in the reply message 46Btransmitted by the operator C is displayed in a smaller scale than theimage 43 in the reply message 46A transmitted by the operator B.

The image 43 in the reply message 46A transmitted by the operator B andthe image 43 in the original message 41 transmitted by the operator Aare also displayed in a smaller scale (or are not displayed) when thenumber of messages associated with the original message 41 exceeds thepredetermined number “1” than when the number of messages is equal to orbelow the predetermined number “1”.

Referring to FIG. 9A, the reply is made to the original message 41.Referring to FIG. 9B, a reply message 46C is transmitted in response tothe reply message 46A. In such a case, the reply message 46C includesthe image 43 of the original message 41. The reply message 46C ishandled as a reply message associated with the original message 41.

A fourth display example is described below. As in the first displayexample, in the fourth display example, the reply message includes thecontents of the original message. In the fourth display example,however, the display controller 212 controls the display form of theimage of the original message in the reply message in accordance withthe number of operations performed to display the original message onthe chat screen (the number of times by which the original message isdisplayed).

FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B illustrates the fourth display example of thereply message. The operator A may now transmit the original message 41,and the operator B may now transmit a reply message 48 in response tothe original message 41. As illustrated in FIG. 10A, the originalmessage 41 and the reply message 48 are displayed on the chat screen ofeach of the operation terminal 200A through the operation terminal 200C.

The operator A may display the original image of the image 43 by severaltimes by selecting on the chat screen the image 43 in the originalmessage 41 or the image 43 in the reply message 48. In that case, theoperator A has apparently verified the original image or the image 43 byseveral times and has apparently recognized the contents of the originalimage or the image 43. If the number of times of displaying the originalimage exceeds the predetermined number, control is performed such thatthe image 43 in the original message 41 and the image 43 in the replymessage 48 are displayed in a smaller scale (or are not displayed) asillustrated in FIG. 10B.

In the displayed example, the predetermined number is “5”. The image 43in the original message 41 and the image 43 in the reply message 48 aredisplayed in a smaller size when the number of times of displaying theoriginal image exceeds “5” than when the number of times of displayingthe original image is equal to or below “5”.

The present invention is not limited to the method of modifying thedisplay form of all the images 43 in the original message 41. Forexample, the display form of the image 43 in the original message 41 maybe modified but the display form of the image 43 in the reply message 48may remain unchanged. In the illustrated example, only the image 43 isincluded as an image of the reply message 48. But the reply message 48may include an image that is different from the image 43 and is part orwhole of the original image of the image 43. The number of times ofdisplaying the original image may include the number of times ofdisplaying when the image different from the image 43 is selected.

The number of times of displaying the original image via the image 43may be counted by taking into account the number of times of displayingall messages, each including the image 43, or the number of times ofdisplaying target messages only. For example, the number of times ofdisplaying the original image via the image 43 of the original message41 is not counted, but the number of times of displaying the originalimage via the image 43 of the reply message 48 is counted, and adetermination is made as to whether the number of times counted exceedsthe predetermined number. Also, for example, the number of times ofdisplaying the original image via the image 43 of the messagetransmitted from a host terminal (the operation terminal 200) displayingthe chat screen is not counted, but the number of times of displayingthe original image via the image 43 of a message transmitted fromanother operation terminal 200 is counted, and then a determination ismade as to whether the number of times counted exceeds the predeterminednumber.

The number of times of displaying the original image is information thatserves as an index used to estimate the number of times by (the level ofverification at) which the operator has verified the original message 41or the image 43. In the illustrated example, the operator may simply usean index that allows the operator to estimate (identify) the number oftimes of verifying the original message 41 or the image 43. The index isnot limited to the number of times of displaying the original image. Forexample, the index may be the number of times by which an operation hasbeen made to the message including the image 43, or may also be thenumber of times by which the operator has clicked (selected) part orwhole of the message including the image 43.

A fifth display example is described. In the fifth display example, thedisplay controller 212 controls the display form of the original messagein the reply message using the character string included in the replymessage.

FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B illustrate the fifth display example of the replymessage. Referring to FIG. 11A, the operator A transmits the originalmessage 41, and the operator B transmits a reply message 49 in responseto the original message 41. Referring to FIG. 11B, the operator Atransmits the original message 41 and the operator B transmits a replymessage 50 in response to the original message 41.

The reply character string responsive to the original message 41 is acharacter string 51 “Noted.” in the reply message 49 of FIG. 11A. Inview of the contents, the character string 51 is considered to be areply to the sentence of the original message 41 (the character string42) rather than a reply to the image 43 in the original message 41. Asthe contents of the original message 41, the reply message 49 includesthe character string 42 (character string “Modify this portion.”) butdoes not include the image 43.

The reply message 50 of FIG. 11B includes a character string 52 that isa reply to the original message 41, namely, a reply character “Do Ichange color on this portion?”. In view of the contents, the characterstring 52 is considered to be a reply to the image 43 in the originalmessage 41 rather than a reply to the sentence of the original message41 (the character string 42). The reply message 49 includes the image 43but does include the character string 42 (the character string “Modifythis portion.”).

Note that the operation terminal 200 stores a predetermined characterstring that is used to determine whether the reply is a reply to theimage of the original message or a reply to the sentence of the originalmessage. For example, “Noted”, “OK”, and “Understood” are characterstrings indicating an agreement and are predetermined as reply characterstrings in response to the sentences of the original message. On theother hand, character strings, such as demonstratives including “this”and “that”, are predetermined as reply character strings responsive tothe image of the original message.

The display controller 212 compares the character string of the replymessage with the predetermined character string and then determineswhether the character string of the reply message is a reply to theimage of the original message or a reply to the sentence of the originalmessage. If the display controller 212 determines that the characterstring of the reply message is a reply to the sentence, the displaycontroller 212 does not display the image of the original message in thereply message. On the other hand, if the display controller 212determines that the character string of the reply message is a reply tothe image, the display controller 212 displays the image of the originalmessage in the reply message.

The character string of the reply message may include a reply characterstring responsive to the sentence of the original message and a replycharacter string responsive to the image of the original message. Ifboth are included, the character string of the reply message isconsidered to be a reply to the sentence and the image of the originalmessage. The displaying of the image may have a higher priority, and thecharacter string of the reply message may be determined to be a reply tothe image of the original message. A threshold value may be set for thenumber of a specific character string, such as a demonstrative. If thecharacter string of the reply message includes the number of thespecific character strings above the threshold value, the characterstring of the reply message may be determined to be a reply to the image(or sentence) of the original message.

The display controller 212 may control the display form of the image ofthe original message in the reply message in accordance with the numberof characters of the character string of the reply message. For example,if the number of characters of the character string of the reply messageis smaller than a threshold value, the character string of the replymessage may be a simple reply and may be determined to be a reply to thesentence of the original message.

Referring to FIG. 11A, the reply message 49 does not include the image43 of the original message 41. Alternatively, the image 43 may bedisplayed in a smaller size. In other words, the display controller 212of the exemplary embodiment performs control such that the image of theoriginal message in the reply message is displayed in a smaller sizewhen the character string of the reply message is a reply to thesentence of the original message (a reply not responsive to the image)than when the character string of the reply message is a reply to theimage of the original message. In other words, the display controller212 displays the image of the original message in the reply message in alarger size when the character string of the reply message is a reply tothe image than when the character string of the reply message is a replyto the sentence of the original message (a reply not responsive to theimage). Referring to FIG. 11B, the reply message 50 does not include thecharacter string 42 of the original message 41. Alternatively, thecharacter string 42 may be displayed together with the image 43 of theoriginal message 41.

The display controller 212 may control the display form of the originalmessage in the reply message in accordance with the character stringincluded in the reply message in that way. In other words, the displaycontroller 212 may change a display ratio of the image of the originalmessage to the character strings of the original message in the replymessage in accordance with the character strings included in the replymessage.

In the second through fifth display examples, the operation terminal 200serving as a receiver having received the reply message controls thedisplay form of the image of the original message in the reply message.Alternatively, the operation terminal 200 serving as a sender thattransmits the reply message may edit and transmit the image of theoriginal message in the reply message or may instruct the receiveroperation terminal 200 to edit and display the image of the originalmessage. In the second display example, the number of messages betweenthe original message 41 and the reply message 46 may be smaller than apredetermined number. In such a case, when the message transceiver unit214 transmits the reply message 46 to the server apparatus 100, themessage transceiver unit 214 may reduce the image 43 of the originalmessage 41 in the reply message 46 in size before transmitting the image43, or may instruct the receiver operation terminal 200 to display theimage 43 in a smaller size.

In accordance with the exemplary embodiment, the display controller 212in the operation terminal 200 displays the original image via the imageincluded in the one message. The association unit 213 in the operationterminal 200 associates the one message with the other message includingthe character string that is entered with the original image displayed.When the operator enters the character string of the other message byverifying the contents of the original image of the image contained inthe one message, the operator has difficulty in entering the characterstring if the original image is not displayed. When the one messageincluding the image is associated with the other message, the operationterminal 200 thus receives the character string of the other messagewith the original image of the image displayed.

In the examples described above, the server apparatus 100 transmits themessage received from an operation terminal 200 to each of all theoperation terminals 200. Alternatively, the server apparatus 100 mayprocess the message and transmit the processed message to each operationterminal 200. In the first display example, for example, the replymessage may include the contents of the original message. The operationterminal 200 may transmit to the server apparatus 100 the reply messageand the link information without the contents of the original message,and the server apparatus 100 may identify the contents of the originalmessage, based on the link information, and may add the contents of theidentified original message. In the second display example, if thenumber of messages between the original message and the reply message issmaller than the predetermined number, the server apparatus 100 mayreduce the image of the original message in the reply message in size,or may instruct each operation terminal 200 to display the image of theoriginal message in a smaller size.

In the examples described above, the messages are arranged on the chatscreen in a chronological order. The display form of the messages is notlimited to the chronological order. For example, the messages may bearranged in accordance with the degrees of importance attached to themessages, or the messages may be arranged on a per operator basis of theoperators who have transmitted the messages.

In the examples described above, the association unit 213 generates thelink information by associating the one message with the other messagethat is a reply to the one message. In accordance with the exemplaryembodiment, the other message associated with the one message is notlimited to a reply to the one message. It is contemplated that the onemessage may be transferred instead of a reply that is made to the onemessage. It may also be contemplated that after transmitting the onemessage including the image from the operation terminal 200A, theoperator A generates and transmits another message using the onemessage. It may also be contemplated that the other message may bestored instead of being transmitted. In such a case, as well, the onemessage is associated with the other message including the characterstring that has been entered with the original image displayed via theimage included in the one message.

The other message to be associated with the one message may be anymessage including a character string that has been entered in a statethat the original image is displayed via the image included in the onemessage. The other message may be used in any applications. Through theoperation that the original image is displayed via the image included inthe one message (through the operation that the original message isdisplayed, based on the image included in the one message), theassociation unit 213 associates the one message with the other message.

In the examples described above, the server apparatus 100 transmits themessage to the operation terminals 200 that participate in the chatsystem 1. Alternatively, the server apparatus 100 may transmit themessage to a specified operation terminal 200. The chat system 1 may bea system that exchange messages on a one-to-one basis (one operationterminal 200 exchanges messages with another operation terminal 200).The chat system 1 of the exemplary embodiment is not limited to a systemthat exchanges messages on a real-time basis. The exemplary embodimentmay find applications in a system as long as in a state that an originalimage is displayed via an image included in a message, the systemreceives another message.

A program implementing the exemplary embodiment of the present inventionmay be provided not only via communication but also by storing theprogram on a recording medium, such as a compact disk read-only memory(CD-ROM).

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention has been provided for the purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modificationsand variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, therebyenabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited tothe particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:a processor, configured to: when a second message specifying a portionof an original image included in a first message and having a linkinformation associating the second message to the first message isreceived, display the portion of the original image specified in thesecond message with the original image based on the link informationthat identifies the first image being associated with the secondmessage.
 2. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein theoriginal image included in the first message and the portion of theoriginal image specified in the second message are displayed in a frame.3. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the firstmessage occurred prior to the second message.
 4. An informationprocessing apparatus, comprising: a processor, configured to: when asecond message in responsive to a first message is input and when aportion of image being specified is a portion of an original imageincluded in the first message, transmit the second message that includeslink information associating the second message to the first informationand the portion of image being specified, wherein the second messagedoes not include the original image.